The Top 100 Dallas-Area Songs of 2016.

Ty Richards is Ready For Takeoff at No. 2.

This time of year, it’s become a bit of a tradition around here for us to not only count down the last few pages on the calendar, but also the best songs to come out of North Texas in the past 12 months. As I think we’ve shown in years past, the results are pretty much always diverse, with a few seemingly out-of-left-field choices in some pretty high-ranking slots. This year, in a countdown that will be unveiled in chunks day by day for the rest of the year, you’ll find some Grammy nominees alongside brand new bands that just started up this year, as well as some high school acts and, well, everything else in between. The one thing they have in common? They all put out fire in 2016.

I’ve only ever heard one Ty Richards song, the lone single from his forthcoming debut full-length.

But damn if it ain’t a good one.

That album, Zillion, is due out in February, and will feature 10 cuts that the Fort Worth native has been laboring on for nearly two years now, while playing every instrument on the thing himself. That output includes the slow burn that is the equal parts funky and psychedelic “Spaceman,” which we reckon is the second-best locally-tied release of the entire year.

Now residing in Austin, Richards finds himself here dabbling in one of that city’s most storied genres. But instead of going all 13th Floor Elevators, Richards looks both backwards and forward at the same time, introducing an arpeggiated synth element to the psych of yore in a manner that Impose describes as being “almost like what the ’70s versions of us would assume the future would sound like, if that makes sense.”

It does!

Zillion by Ty Richards“It’s about me waking up now and seeing the sharp contrast against my life two years ago,” Richards also told Impose. “I’m a zillion miles away from where I used to be mentally, spiritually and even physically.”

That’s true in many senses. In the last few years, Richards quit his white collar job, changed cities and had a kiddo. It’s obvious while listening to the tune, which he’s described as being “both epic and dumb at the same time,” that the guy’s currently in a good place, and at peace enough where he doesn’t have to take himself too seriously.

From the falsetto vocals that split the fence between sexy and silly to the pretty nonsensically whimsical lyrics like the opening salvo of “The space monkey is eating your spaghetti,” it’s a fun listen from start to finish — and one that gracefully avoids novelty territory.

It’s our sincere hope that this is the future of rock. I suppose we’ll find out for sure when Zillion finally earns its release on February 3.

Needless to say, there are few, if any, locally-tied albums coming out in 2017 that we’re looking forward to more.

Cory Graves is the Associate Editor at Central Track. He enjoys not only writing about Dallas and its local music scene, but being a part of it as a member of the band Vandoliers. Courtney Love once referred to him onstage as “my fucking therapist,” which he immediately put on his resume.